Youth development

Who am I? What will become of me? What do my friends think of me? What do other people think of my body? Why am I being bullied? Youths in the modern complex society of today face a number of important questions on e.g. identity, body and social relationships.

In the research group The Gothenburg group for Research In Developmental psychology (GRID) our aim is to contribute with knowledge on how young people addresses these and similar questions and solve central developmental tasks in their lives. We have an outspoken developmental psychology perspective, which means that we study how and why individuals develop as they do, and how young people experience this development. The childhood and adolescent years are in focus, but we see the development as processes of change and stability that continue throughout life, and we are therefore interested in studying both childhood and adult life. We have also, in several studies, been interested in the youths parents and families to achieve a broader understanding of their situation.

Identity development is central during adolescent years but also continues into adulthood and concerns, amongst other, work identity and the ethnic identity. A related concept of identity is personality where we conduct research on what characterizes an individual. Other central aspects of youth lives we study are body image and puberty development, sexual risk behaviour and exposure, both in social relationships and in social media on the internet.

The goal with our research is to contribute with knowledge about young peoples experiences, such as the hardships that could lead to postive development. Within GRID we use both quantitative and qualitative research methods, often in combination, within several longitudinal projects where we follow individuals over extended times.